Like That Also Can (Too) - Singapore's Favourite Expat!

Posts tagged: writer

I’ll explain the ‘Not a Tourist’ piece in a moment, but first let me touch on the celebrity part…

I’ve actually been trying to play things a little more low key these past few months, following on from a year that’s seen more commitments than I can throw a stick at. With my ‘day job’ creating quite a significant workload outside of office hours (late night conference calls and 2012 planning) and my Grassroots activities, I’ve had to knock back literally dozens of ‘extra-curricular’ activities and engagements.

I'm not a tourist because...

Having said that, the month of November saw a remarkable amount of exposure across various media – traditional and digital. With appearances on TV, interviews and ‘exclusives’ on a couple of international news websites, on Monday this week the Straits Times ran an article penned by one of their journalists based out of Sydney – I kindly agreed to the interview for this and was a little stunned to see how large the picture of my family was that was run with the story – I had SMS’s, emails, phone calls from every man and his dog to tell me about it.

Seriously? Looking out across Orchard Road

Then the very next day, as Sammi and I were walking up Orchard Road to TAB to attend the official launch event for Notatourist.sg – I kid you not – our photos… one of me and another of Sammi and the boys appeared on the large screen facing the most famous of Singapore’s shopping strips. Let me tell you, Sammi and I took more than a double-take… how very surreal!

The reason for the images being displayed (along with the pictures of other ‘expat writers’) was part of the launch event.

As part of the proceedings, I was invited to participate on stage as a panelist in an informal dialog… along with local celebrities, the one and only (very cool) Hossan Leong and famous author and columnist, Neil Humphreys – a couple of very funny guys… I felt very honoured to meet them both.

Aussie Pete, Neil Humphreys and Hossan Leong

Expat Panelists

I have gladly agreed to be part of the editorial team at the newly launched Notatourist.sg.

NOT A TOURIST

notatourist.sg is about you — You, the expatriate in Singapore, in discovering your home away from home.

You’re an expat, not a tourist. You can pepper your English with lah’s and can’s, you know why taxis seem to be in hiding just before midnight, and you know that tissue packets left on hawker centre tables is not a process to be trifled with.

I'm not a tourist because...

Maybe you are here for the abundant career opportunities, or you are trailing a spouse, or simply for the endless sunshine, clean parks and fantastic chilli sauce. Whatever the case may be, notatourist.sg recognises that the expatriation process is about creating your own identity and foundations in Singapore, living life here to build lasting memories to share with each other and loved ones at home.

The stories you will find here are on the ground—real and raw—written by you and fellow like-minded individuals. We share stories from expatriates of all backgrounds, so that you find your commonality in the joys, quirks and even gripes unique to your Singapore experience. In this community and endless resource for advice, find tips on the relocation process, on easing into the local scene and on how to get to those hidden finds beyond Orchard Road.

We welcome you to join our network and feel a sense of home in Singapore. Making new connections is just the beginning of what this Lion City has to offer.

Our Hong Kong Travel Blog

In collaboration with omy.sg, the Hong Kong Tourism Board sent ten
bloggers from the Singapore Blog Awards 2010 to Hong Kong to experience the Hong
Kong Dragonboat Carnival, part of the Hong Kong Summer Spectacular Program.

I'm not even talking about computers or social media here - simple texting can be challenging for the 'age-challenged'. I recently caught the following gallery of very funny texts between parents and their offspring.All I can say is LOL (Lots Of Love) and WTF (Well That's fantastic) !! :)Compliments of Aussie Pete :) […]

Most of us go to work everyday to keep the order ticking along. At times, we probably think we'd rather be out fishing... but we understand that our commitments are such that we need to be able to provide - food on the table, safety and shelter for our loved ones, education and development for the little ones, to name but a few.(Scroll to bottom for vid […]

TIME MAGAZINE has once again published their Top 10 Pictures of the year.The 2013 selection does not fail when it comes to capturing what words alone cannot describe.How better to come back from a few months blogging hiatus, than to share these awesome images and heart tugging moments, along with commentary from the photographers themselves.ENJOY!!http://lig […]

Well, this is one of those classic 'What The Hell' Moments...But the story gets weirder and weirder as the facts emerge.When a 10-year-old boy found a human mummy in a sarcophagus in a corner of his grandparents' attic, it left German authorities in a state of bewilderment.The mummy found by a ten-year-old boy in Germany lies in its resting pl […]

Locky's Dad is Nick Auden - the dad of three little kids: Lachlan ("Locky"), Hayley, & Evan - a loving husband, an athlete and a successful businessman!And he keeps surviving against all odds in his battle against Stage 4 Melanoma.Nick is determined to be a survival case study for other advanced melanoma fighters.But he needs access to a t […]

Known as a PACU, the "ball-cutter" fish has a set of chompers very similar to that of a human. Usually found only in warm waters of the Amazon River, the Pacu, a relative of the Piranha, can grow up to a length of 90cm and a weight of 25kg.So it came as a complete surprise when a 21cm Pacu was caught in an eel trap in Oresund Sound off the south co […]

[Be sure to scroll to the end of this post to find out how to share in very cool prizes!!]Roll Over... Roll Over... so they all rolled over and NONE FELL OUT!!Well, that's not really the way the song goes, but with a mattress specifically designed by Sealy, when one heavy person moves about in their sleep it's not felt by their partner. In my case, […]

Now here is something that I never considered when I started the Sealy Sleep Ambassador campaign.Of course, I’d heard about REM (rapid eye movement) sleep before and have read reports of how not getting enough can have serious consequences on my health. What I didn’t know was that I just haven’t been experiencing it often enough over recent years. I sort of […]

The video is very poor quality and short (on loop), but it's gone viral all thanks to actress, Porscha Coleman. Crazy Apple Store Freak-Out Lady The incident occurred when an unidentified woman entered the Grove Apple store in Los Angeles pushing a stroller and asked for some parts for her phone... a staff member at the Genius Bar advised her that if […]

As most of my long term readers are well aware, it's very rare these days that I will take part in campaigns and the like, unless it's really something that I'm passionate about or will be beneficial to the community at large. This time around, when OMY kindly invited me to take part in the 'Sealy Sleep Ambassador 2013' campaign, I h […]